The Strasbourg Court and American Abortion Jurisprudence

Tomorrow the European Court of Human Rights will announce their decision in ABC v. Ireland , which could, writes William Saunders of Americans United for Life, “become the Roe v. Wade of Europe.” A legal consultant to pro-life intervenors in the case, he’s written an article for the Human Life Review discussing not only the case but its importance for Americans. Many of us will want to say “Who cares what that court does?” but in The ABCs of an International Right to Abortion he argues that it could matter a great deal.

[T]he U.S. has been reluctant to cede power to supra-national organizations. However, given the United States Supreme Courts control over abortion and its increasing reliance on international law, if abortion is considered a customary international right, this issue could not only be taken completely out of the hands of the American people, but even out of the realm of American jurisprudence. The courts ruling in ABC v. Ireland , then, is not one to be overlooked or downplayed.